RNs Call for Protective Equipment, Training Following Report of First HCW Ebola Case in Dallas

October 13, 2014 1:40 PM

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Following news on Sunday that the first U.S. nurse has now tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus, National Nurses United (NNU) called for all hospitals to have in place the highest standard of optimal protections, including Hazmat suits, and hands-on training to protect all RNs and other hospital personnel to confront Ebola. “There is no standard short of optimal in protective equipment and hands-on-training that is acceptable,” says RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, the largest U.S. organization of nurses. “Nurses and other frontline hospital personnel must have the highest level of protective equipment, such as the Hazmat suits Emery University or the CDC themselves use while transporting patients and hands on training and drills for all RNs and other hospital personnel, that includes the practice putting on and taking off the optimal equipment,” DeMoro says. NNU will host a national call-in conference call Wednesday with nurses across the U.S. to discuss concerns about U.S. hospital readiness for Ebola. “Our call was set before today’s announcement based on steady reports from nurses at multiple hospitals who are alarmed at the inadequate preparation they see at their hospitals. The time to act is long overdue,” DeMoro says.

Following news on Sunday that the first U.S. nurse has now tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus, National Nurses United (NNU) called for all hospitals to have in place the highest standard of optimal protections, including Hazmat suits, and hands-on training to protect all RNs and other hospit...